ELECTION OF MEMBERS FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 221, 26 February 1866, Page 2

ELECTION OF MEMBERS FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

MEETING- AT RIVERLON. A numerously attended political meeting was held at Riverton, Thursday, 22nd inst., Dr. J. H. Martin, Riverton, in the chair. The chairman said that he took the chair at the wish of the meeting, without any bias on either side. He h'ped they would give the speakers a fair and patient hearing. Mr. C. R. Marten first addressed the meeting. He said he should have taken an earlier opportunity of doing so, had he anticipated that the •election would take place so soon. He dwelt strongly on the necessity of representation for the agricultural interests. He thought even the new Land Regulations too favorable to the runholders. As the land was only leased to them untd required for freehold settlement, lie questioned their claim to compensation, and he greatly objected to the renewal of the leases ; th^y should have been offered to public t oni petition. -The country had thus lost a large sum which could ill be spared. As to the question of separation, he was warmly in its favor. The real object of the war was to increase the land revenue of the North Island. Now he denied the inherent right of the Maories to the land. They were not the original settlers, and unles it were thought that when they dined upon their predecessors, they thus absorbed their title to the land — the Maori title was no better than the' English — the right of conquest. Still the treaty of Waitangi had guaranteed to the natives the possession of their lands ; it had become law, and we must nspect it. But the Northern, Provinces, ambitiousof more land and laud revenue finding they could not gain it by fair means, had recourse to stratagem. They persuaded some unfortunate native, first to call himself the chief of the tribe, ani then to sell them the ground. He readily consented for a suitable consideration, and the Government immediately proceeded to survey the place. v The rest of the tribe made an outcry, declared that the so-called chief had no right to the land, and they would not let it be sold. . The Government replied, " Tou have sold us the land, and we will keep it, and fight for it." And so they hal done for seven years, to our great dis drantage. We paid our part of the expense of the war (all of which money, be it remembered, was spent in the belligerent Provinces) ; bub the idea never seemed to these provinces to give us a share of the land revenue for which they were fighting. If they did this we should not grumble at paying part of the cost, although ©yen then they would

have theiadtfcntage of the pecuniary disburaement.7 But under present circumstances the warwua , purely local disturbance, and we were no more ■ bound to pay for it than for the suppression of the New South Wales bushrangers. Those who J bought land in the North Island, did so fully aware that they were liable to the inroads of the;; natives, and of course they paid accordingly. People here labored unier the absence of roads, and might, with' equal justice, call upon the colony to join in making them. Both wore local drawbacks, and should be treated locally. Ho considered the only way to obtain a share of the revenue was by a financial separation. Of the various new forms of government proposed, he was in favor of a central government in each island, (with or without federation) 'and municipalities; he strongly disapproved the continuance of the' provincial system. It was, no doubt a good plan in foun ling % colony to place settlern mts in different parts, and allow each to do its beßt for the local progress. But now chat we have easy means of communication, and above all, the electric telegraph, the system hal fulfilled its purpose, and hai become an expensive nuisance. Indeed he thought that the establishment o steam communication should have been the signal for the abolition of tho provinces. As it was at present, the local jeaiousy ani rivalry was ruining the colony at large. The> most striking instance of this was the roa I from Dunedin to the. t Wakatipu, commenced by Otago at an expanse of £250,000, at a time when that amou-it wouli have enabled us to complete a gooi road anl railway thither from the Bluff, — admitted by all to be^the nearest and be^t port, ani in spite o the opinion of an engineer that the shortest road from Dunedin to the Lake was via Invercargill ! There could not be a stronger argument than this against the provincial system. The third suggestion was a " pent irchy " — or a govermnentof five — put forward by Mr. Macandrewformerly Superintendent of Otago. This involved the absorption of Taranaki into Auckland. Hawkesßayioto Wellington, Marlborough into Nelson, and Southland into Otago. This 6cheme had his unqualified condemnation. • As long as the provincial system continued, it would be madnes to resign our separate rights ani privileges, was all very well for Messrs. Macandrew and Yogel to offer, in the name of Otago, . unlimited benefits. Such offers would never be by the by the people of Otago, much as they would like the ascendency which a union with Southland would give them in the money market, enabling them readily to float their own debentures. ! Rumors state the offers to be — Ist, to guarantee Southland's debt ; 2nd, finish the Bluff Railway to the Lake, another to Riverton, another to Mataura, the Provincial Council to meet alternately at Dunedin and Invercargill, land revenue to be spent locally, and co on. No one can doubt that these would be great blessings (although the only conditions under which union with Otago would be tolerable) ; but who could suspect Otago of the faintest intention of carrying them ? And even were they to be, the result would only be to increase our debts. Mr. M-icjndrew'a breach of faith towards Southland when Superintendent of Otago, was the direct causes of that separation, and we should be weak indeed to again subject ourselves to the same. With regard to Mr. Stafford's announced policy, there was one point of the utmost importance. It appeared that, not satisfied with our heavy contributions, by means of indirect taxation through the customs, the Government intended to propose an income tax to aid in the expense of the war. Now this was really the climax — after travelling 16,000 miles to a country, one of whose greatest charms was the absence of the tax gatherer, to find that in the moment of our worst distress we were to be called on to pay taxes, was a blow we could not sustain. This item iD Mr. Stafford's speech was the most effective spur.the separation movement could receive. He had already said, and would repeat again and again, that while anacre remained . unsold we should avoid and resist taxation. He wished to express .his gratification at having for an opponent a gentlemen of such high character, as that afforded the best guarantee that the contest would be carried, on fairly and honorably on both sides, and that if defeated it woull be by just and honorable means. Mr. Marten then thanked the meeting for their patient attention, and expressed his willingness to answer any questions. Mr. Subjiax asked if Mr. Makten would advise a reduction in the price of land to 10s. per acre. Mr Marten replied in the negative. He thought the price of land hal been lowered as far as it could with safety, and the practice of altering the land l.iws was most de"rimental. Canterbury mainly owed her prosperity, not' so much to the regulations themselves or the price (although both might suit that particular locality), but°to the fact thatf her regulations had always remained nearly the satne. The variety in land laws was another very strong argument against the syste;ii of Provinces. No other questions were asked, and a vote of thanks to Mr. Mautex for his lucid and straightforward exposition of opinion was .proposed and carried by acclamation. The usual vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the .proceedings.